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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23659330">R.E.D Dust</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/radeecal/pseuds/radeecal'>radeecal</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Team Fortress 2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, F/M, Slow Build, character exploration</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:27:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,039</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23659330</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/radeecal/pseuds/radeecal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>RED Medic/Original Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>CHAPTER I</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was a tinge of dreariness in the air that early morning, in a large dormitory a woman rustled in her sleep, her body shifting and turning, small moans escaping her mouth softly. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She woke up, gasping and struggling for air, her hand clutching to her leg, digging her nails into the skin on her thigh. The bones in her ankle pinched her nerves and drove pain to her hip. Her breathless lungs pleading for oxygen, the sound of the echo of her deep breathing consciously bringing her to a halt. She took the pills in the box below her pillow, and swallowed hard, feeling the capsule roughly sliding down her esophagus. Regretting not taking it with any water, she sat up on her bed and massaged her neck.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What was that dream?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The girl adjusted herself and stretched her arms to the ceiling, then climbed down the ladder of the bunk-bed shortly after. The soldier in the bed below hers snored loudly, she rubbed her tired eyes and fixated them on the crack in the window.“Let’s go Em, time to get up.” She said, her words echoed in the silence.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sara could hear the shuffling of Emily’s body, a couple of grunts and sighs then, “Do you know what’s going on today?” The girl below her asked, eyes barely open.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>      	“I’d rather not know, week’s been hell.” Sara said, sighing, placing her hand on her leg. Emily noticed this and quickly called attention to it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Could you do yourself a favor and go get your ankle checked out?” Emily pleaded.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>      	“It’ll heal soon enough.” Sara sighed and shook her head, patting Emily at the shoulder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sara then began to head to the showers, she heard Emily’s voice once more, exclaiming,  “Doesn’t seem to have been healing at all in the past year, Sara!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sara walked to the shower room, knowingly ignoring the women’s gazes and stares that were placed upon her. The dormitories were filled with Nurses, Cooks, Maintenance workers, Office workers and Retired Army Women. What all these women had in common was that they had no ties. Nothing to string them to their homes, their friends or even families. Sacrifices had to be made for money, especially, the most baffling thing was that they seemed to be happy.  Sara’s mind ran back and forth but was drawn to the pain at her ankle once more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She limped to the dormitories bathroom, and with each step, The pain that throbbed there lessened, she washed herself, combed her hair, and avoided the scornful glances from the women in the bathroom. The usual morning line-up.  The women looked down upon her, because of certain rumors that were prowling around. She stood, staring at herself in the mirror. Sara drew her hand down from her womb to her side. She watched carefully, distinguishing every wrinkle on her uniform, a stain of blood poked through the fabric, she tugged at it and examined it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It had turned dark now, she had forgotten where that stain came from and shrugged it off.  She put on her jacket and took her hand towards her under-eyes, she traced the darkness visible and thought of how awful she looked. Sara never got enough sleep as it was, always dreaming and jolting up. The women would say that she would murmur to her own in the night. She could only picture herself, she wouldn’t be too curious of her words. Sara didn’t mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Soon enough Sara found herself walking through the twin doors of the dormitories into the outside, the sun had not risen yet, but the glow of it crept in slowly. It was no longer than ten seconds until she realized the cold piercing temperature of the desert, her face flushed in the cold temperature, which strayed her palms to cover her reddened face. It was December, and winter desert air shocked the bone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>      	“Are you alright?” Emily said in a soft whisper, she was much awake now, walking up to her from behind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Bloody cold. Desert’s a nun’s nasty.”  Sara responded, licking her lips before turning to face the ginger girl, they stood still as the conversation continued.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>      	“Hell’s hot by day, and freezing nights. I enjoy it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Although this day felt, different. It felt as if electricity was roaming the air. The dust had settled so softly and the air was too clear. It was just too silent until she heard the incoming steps of women exiting the dormitories, all in uniforms. Sara and Emily turned their bodies to clear the passageway. The women were complete strangers to Sara, she felt as if they could completely look through her. The blonde then licked her chapped lips and darted her eyes towards the pole speaker as it bellowed with sound saying, “ Report to the meeting hall.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. CHAPTER II</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Women and Men all gathered in the hall, staring at the blank television screen that rummaged with static. The wait seemed to be eternal, as everyone was at the edge of their seat to hear the voice of the administrator and be instructed for the week.</p><p> </p><p>Monday was assignment day, the most exciting day of the week. Whence things could seem boring, it gave people something to look forward to doing. Emily tried to speak to Sara, to no avail, as the woman ignored her to mind the words coming from the other women in the room, they criticized her and slandered rumors.</p><p> </p><p>I heard she-</p><p> </p><p>               	She’s obviously sleeping with one of them!</p><p> </p><p>                                                      	                         	There’s no wonder.</p><p> </p><p>Emily saw Sara’s eyes astray from hers, her eyes fixed on the horizon just to the side of her face. She balled her fists and Emily soon understood what was going on, she tilted her face to meet Sara’s eyes, “ Hey, don’t listen to them.” Emily snapped her out of it, Sara shook her head, containing the anger. Emily understood and patted her shoulder.<br/>The several men from her team came into the hall one by one, the rest of the workers turned to face the mercenaries as they always did. One by one they came by, lighting up the room with their very presence. Sara strayed from her friend to join the men front, where the monitor was located.</p><p> </p><p>The chattering resumed.</p><p> </p><p>A man about her height approached her, he wore overalls and carried himself taller than his height. His thick beard covered his chin and his mustache moved as he spoke, “Hey, Pilot! When are you going to move up to the mercenaries’ building?” Dell asked, straying her from her thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t you think I have enough of a bad reputation already?” She said in a low volume, ignoring his glance. She was in a bad mood already, she hated the assumptions and all the rumors that floated amidst the working community.</p><p> </p><p>“ Well I don’t see why you shouldn’t do it. Anyways, it’d be better to not be around the other girls don’t you think?” He said to her, crossing his arms and nudging her with his elbows. It brought her apathetic expression to a smile and she chuckled. As the people in the room chattered about, Sara noticed the absent Sniper.</p><p> </p><p>Sara was now standing next to the Engineer and Demoman of the team, he purposely stood next to her and she could tell. He saluted, “Morning girl!”.</p><p> </p><p>The man wore a slightly dirty red turtle-neck and welcomed her kindly. He shuffled awkwardly next to her. “Oi, have you seen my brother?” Sara questioned, strangely realizing his lack of presence.</p><p> </p><p>“Prolly’ slept in like he always does.” The Engineer said, not paying it much importance.</p><p> </p><p>“How’s he been, does he look alright?” Sara started softly, staring down at the floor.</p><p> </p><p>He cocked his head and asked, “You’re worried about him, that’s- ” he smiled a bit, searching for his next words. </p><p> </p><p>Her eyes lit up when she heard his voice interrupting their conversation. “Sorry I’m late,” he said from behind the group. The blonde then felt his hand on her shoulder, giving her a slight squeeze as he continued to say, “Mornin’ Songbird.”</p><p> </p><p>The Sniper walked to stand beside his sister, he tilted his head downwards to take a good look at her face, which was hidden behind her golden locks. From his stature, he could only see her lips saying, ”You’ve always had the bad habit of being late.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not even a good morning, eh?”</p><p> </p><p>Sara gave him a hard look. Choosing her lack of words to be her weapon against him. </p><p> </p><p>Her silence scratched the words out of him. “Slept in, surprised?”</p><p> </p><p>      	“The sarcasm is appreciated, Richard.” Sara crossed her arms and continued to look straight in front of her, filling her mind with other things.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, glad you caught it S-“ He stopped talking just as he noticed the words written on his sister’s hand. He took her hand quickly, followed by a sound of retaliation from the smaller woman, then proceeded to read the words. They were not words, but numbers.</p><p> </p><p>DMcElroy 8 - 3453</p><p> </p><p>The words were slightly faded, he assumed that the writing was most likely a day old. Her expression shifted, he smirked and raised his brow questioningly. “Who’s number?” The Sniper asked while smiling, she seemed to turn away from him then. Mildly taken aback by her behavior, he asked again.</p><p> </p><p>“Who’s number is it?” Louder this time, smirking.</p><p> </p><p>      	“For the love of Christ, could you please not make it public?” She said apathetically.</p><p> </p><p>“Is curiosity allowed?” He joked, his hands traveled to the pockets in his pants. </p><p> </p><p>      	“Not this loud!” She whispered loudly.</p><p> </p><p>“S’it your boyfriend back home?” He nudged her.</p><p> </p><p>	“It’s a private M.D! Now shush!”</p><p> </p><p>The bickering pair was brought to a halt when the face of the Administrator appeared on the screen, the murmuring room’s attention was stolen when the static slowly formed into a lowly grin. The woman wore her usual purple attire, her crossed hands resting upon her knee, the slow fade of her image brought the room to a halt.</p><p> </p><p>The Administrator called the names of the mercenaries that were sitting on the nearby table, one by one they approached the white fax machine next to the large screen.  Sara’s mind traveled elsewhere on the endless wait for her name, she thought back to the dream from the night before.</p><p> </p><p>Images flashed in her head, she recalled a backdrop of blue twisting and swiveling. </p><p> </p><p>Her attention was called when she heard the name of her brother being called out by the woman on the screen, she said.<br/>“Mr. Mundy, Ms. Pauling will have your Special Case.” Richard was not expecting this at all, his eyes widened in surprise, he removed his hat as he walked nervously towards the screen.</p><p> </p><p>Then she called out another one from the group. Sara saw the man step forward in his impeccable white attire. He took two more steps before looking up at the woman on the screen “Mr. Ludwig, Ms. Pauling will have your Special Case.” He also looked slightly surprised, she had never witnessed him getting a special case. Field Medic's aren't put into individual work, they need someone to care for, Sara wondered. His gaze caught hers for a moment, she turned her head to the side.</p><p> </p><p>After him, it was her turn to approach the fax machine. Calm and recollected, she walked forward to find the page printed before her, she took it in her hands and felt the paper that grazed her fingers. She took off with the page when the familiar voice of the administrator stopped her in her tracks.</p><p> </p><p>“Ms. Mundy-” She turned to see the screen almost fearfully and observed the purple lips of the Administrator, “-I’d like to ask a favor of you, Pauling will have your case.” </p><p> </p><p>Sara gulped at her chilling words, then exhaled a sigh of relief when she saw her brother standing there. The Sniper seemed confused as to what was happening, it was rare for three to receive a special case at once. It was rare for anyone to receive a special case.</p><p> </p><p>The men’s gazes fixated on Sara, who stood slightly in front of her team. Nervously peering at the paper as the image of their boss faded from the screen.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've deleted the old one, this is the updated version of the original R.E.D BLOOD. I've grown a bit as a writer so I thought I'd expand on this idea more.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed!</p>
<p>D.S.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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